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The top gainer was Corvus Gold, and it was followed by Thompson Creek Metals Company, Kinross Gold, Yamana Gold and NioCorp Developments.
Last week, the the S&P TSX Composite index (INDEXTSI:OSPTX) closed Friday down 10.51 points, or 0.08 percent, at 12,763.99 points.
According to Reuters, the decline came as a selloff in US tech stocks bled over into the Canadian tech sector. However, the index was buoyed somewhat by gold stocks, which in turn appear to have been boosted by the rising gold price — the yellow metal closed Friday at $1,183 per ounce, up 4.9 percent for the week.
With those factors in mind, it’s unsurprising that the top-gaining resource stocks on the TSX last week were predominantly gold miners. The top riser was Corvus Gold (TSX:KOR), and it was followed by Thompson Creek Metals Company (TSX:TCM), Kinross Gold (TSX:K,NYSE:KGC), Yamana Gold (TSX:YRI,NYSE:AUY,LSE:YAU) and NioCorp Developments (TSX:NB).
Corvus Gold
As mentioned, last week’s biggest gainer on the TSX was Corvus Gold. The junior exploration and development company, which is focused on its Nevada-based North Bullfrog discovery, saw its share price rise 79.75 percent to reach $0.71.
On February 2, Corvus released exploration results from North Bullfrog. The results are from three target areas at the project, and show “broad zones of low-grade gold-silver mineralization with some internal zones of +1 g/t gold.”
Thompson Creek Metals Company
Thompson Creek Metals Company has transitioned in recent years from being a primary moly producer to being a copper and gold producer. All of the company’s operations are located in North America, and at the moment its key focus is the British Columbia-based Mount Milligan copper-gold mine and concentrator.
Last week, Thompson Creek’s share price rose 59.09 percent to reach $0.35. On February 4, the company announced it will release its 2015 financial results after market close on February 24; a conference call/webcast will be held the following day at 11:00 a.m. EST.
Kinross Gold
Kinross Gold is a major gold miner with operations in the US, Brazil, Chile, Ghana, Mauritania and Russia. Last week, its share price rose 38.96 percent to hit $3.21. The company didn’t release any news last week — its last release came in mid-January when it closed its acquisition of strategic Nevada assets formerly owned by Barrick Gold (TSX:ABX,NYSE:ABX).
Yamana Gold
Like Kinross, Yamana Gold is a major gold producer with operations around the world. It too released no news last week, but nevertheless saw its share price rise 32.37 percent to reach $3.19. The company last put out news midway through January, when it provided its preliminary 2015 operational results and outlook for 2016 to 2018.
NioCorp Developments
Finally, NioCorp Developments’ share price rose 32.26 percent last week to end at $0.82. The company is developing the Nebraska-based Elk Creek project, which it bills as North America’s only niobium-scandium-titanium project, and last week put out two press releases.
In the first, the company announced various staffing appointments, and in the second it announced a town hall meeting aimed at updating Southeast Nebraska residents on Elk Creek. The meeting will be held on March 16.
Data for 5 Top TSX Stocks articles is retrieved each Friday after market close using The Globe and Mail’s market data filter. Only companies with a market capitalization greater than $50 million prior to the week’s gains are included. Companies within the mining and precious metals sectors are considered.
Securities Disclosure: I, Charlotte McLeod, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
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